Cotton
by MadameSheep
Summary: Wally makes the one mistake that could cause some serious damage to his home-life. One-Shot. Spitfire. Post Time Skip


He was not the kind of person to hide from trouble. It just didn't go very well alongside the whole, 'hero,' persona. And yet here he was, ducking behind one of the control panels of the Watchtower, praying that the zeta beams would somehow suddenly malfunction and give him some kind of relief.

The familiar hum told him that he wasn't going to have any miracles that day.

"Wallace Rudolph West, where are you?" The voice made his stomach knot and Wally tried harder to disappear behind the metal console. If there was one thing he was afraid of it was her.

His wife.

Who knew that marriage would be so damn frightening?

Wally heard the clicking of heels on the floor behind him and swiveled around, panicked. Hawkgirl stood above him, raising a thin eyebrow. Wally gave her a pleading look and pressed a finger against his lips. He and Shayera had a good relationship when it came to The League. He just prayed that it was strong enough for her not to out him. She flipped locks of red hair over her shoulder, and leaned over him to press a few buttons on the panel he hid behind, ignoring him to check on a few of the graphs that popped up on the screen.

"What did you do to her, Flash?" She mumbled softly. Wally looked over to where his wife was questioning Rocket, and shrank back.

"I forgot that today was our anniversary. And therefore missed the very nice dinner she cooked for me because I was on patrol." He hissed up at her. Shayera's eyes narrowed and Wally knew that he had made a tragic mistake.

"Hey Artemis!" She yelled from the platform. The blonde archer's head swiveled in their direction and Wally could only watch with growing horror.

"What's up, Shy?" He could hear Artemis's footsteps coming closer up the ramp towards them, and clung to Shayera's leg, hoping and praying that there was some way to get out of this mess. He knew Artemis's temper. He knew what she was capable of more than anyone else. She didn't get mad over little things as often as she used to when they were young, but forgetting their dinner, and forgetting their anniversary? That was huge. That was Armageddon for their household.

Wally could see it now, playing in his head; He was running. It seemed like the only good option for him. And then she shot his legs out from underneath him and mounted his head on the wall of their living room like some prized trophy.

"What'd he do this time?" Hawkgirl said as she leaned toward Artemis. Luckily for Wally, she still managed to be hiding him well enough. Hopefully, Artemis wouldn't spot him unless Shayera was feeling particularly vengeful.

If Wally knew the names of the Thanagarian gods, he would be praying to them right about now.

Artemis sighed, running fingers through the long, blonde hair that hung freely over her shoulders.

"He forgot our anniversary."

"What an idiot." Shayera scoffed. "How long has it been now?"

"Two years as of today. Not long enough for him to be forgetting the date." Artemis growled. Wally felt the bite of shame. He should have remembered. What kind of husband was he? Already fulfilling the old stereotype.

"Ugh. Typical man. I'll keep an eye out for him, Artemis." Shayera lie was smooth as silk. Wally heard the familiar sound of Artemis's sigh.

"Thanks, Shayera. I'll see you for tomorrow's patrol." Artemis said, before tuning and walking back down the ramp and down the hallways that led to the weight and sparring rooms.

Shayera's sharp green eyes were on Wally in an instant as he slowly emerged from his hiding spot. Her hand shot forward and knotted in the front of his uniform.

"Listen here, Speedster. Unless you want to have a close encounter with my mace, you are going to get out of here this instant and go buy your wife something that is going to make her completely forget how badly you screwed this up." The redhead growled. Wally nodded as the Thanagarian turned and extended her wings, flying up to a higher platform without another word.

He was really going to have to stay away from all of these violent women or else he was not going to make it to age thirty.

Artemis's anger was fizzling out into a heavy disappointment that settled in the pit of her chest. Two Days. There were only two days out of the 365 days in the year that she expected Wally to remember. Her birthday, and their wedding anniversary. Two days. How hard was it for the man to remember two days? He could remember half of a damn physics book but he couldn't remember two measly days?

She'd looked all over the watchtower, and had even gone back to Mt. Justice to ask Dick if he had seen her husband with no such luck. For all she knew, Wally was probably hiding out in the middle of the Arctic Circle. Which was good, considering it was one of the few places that he was safe from her in the cosmos.

She zeta-beamed back to Keystone city, recovered her motorcycle and rode the rest of the way to her house in silence. She parked her bike next to Wally's completely useless car in the garage with a sigh.

The house was as dark and lonesome as she had left it when Wally had made it clear he wasn't coming home. The house still smelled of the garlic she had used for the alfredo. She had been so damn excited all day. Artemis was not the kind of wife who went around fixing her husband dinner on a daily basis. Hell, it wasn't that unusual for them to both eat at the mess hall in The Watchtower. She'd actually been pretty excited to cook for him, not that she'd admit it to anymore.

And then he hadn't shown up.

With an angry growl, Artemis ripped off her helmet, shaking out her tangled blonde hair before shoving the helmet onto a shelf. And kicked off her boots, throwing her socks into the hamper before treading barefoot in the dark house. Artemis hated coming home to a lonely house. It reminded her so much of what it used to be like whe she was younger and her mother was still in jail. Dad and Jade would be out doing something that no doubt was illegal and she was too young to go along. So instead, Artemis had stayed at home by herself, making spagetti-os and watching cartoons until she fell asleep.

Wally had promised that she'd never have to experience those kinds of feelings with him around. Artemis sighed.

She was tired. And angry. But mostly just disappointed. How was she supposed to make this marriage work when Wally ran whenever there was an argument? Artemis groaned, dragging her tired body though the house before collapsing onto the couch. The plush, soft pillows enveloped her and Artemis let her eyes close.

She woke up with start, barely managing to keep herself from jumping. Her instincts put her on high alert, ready to move and fight. Someone was in her house. The sound of a floorboard giving the slightest creak along with the breathy sound of soft panting affirmed it. She didn't dare move. Moving would tip off the intruder that she was awake. God this idiot had really picked the wrong house to break into tonight, she thought with a mental sneer.

Each step was measured and hesitant. Whoever the intruder was, he was painstakingly making sure that he didn't wake her up. Little did he know that not only was she awake, but she was a pissed off wife whose husband forgot her anniversary. Maybe an intruder was exactly what she needed right now. A few punches would do her some good.

"Shhhh." He whispered. It peaked her interest. She knew that tone.

It seemed that the prodigal husband had returned.

She struggled to even her breathing and kept her ears trained for the slightest noises. He continued to take his time in walking towards her. His breath fanned across her neck stirring against her face as he leaned over her. Even with her eyes closed, she could feel the nervous tension radiating off of him. But with it came the familiar scent of Wally's cologne mixed with the scent from his shampoo. It woke up delicious feelings inside of her and she mentally shook herself. She was not about to let him get away with this so easily.

"Just say quiet for a little bit longer." He mumbled softly. What the hell was he going on about, Artemis asked herself.

Then she heard the sound, and felt the soft pressure upon her chest that finally made her open her eyes and look up to Wally from where she lay on the couch. But it wasn't Wally that she was face-to-face with.

The kitten's eyes were green, a shade that eerily matched her husband's, and it stumbled clumsily towards her face from where it had been placed upon her chest. Artemis felt her brow furrow as it brazenly approached her and head butted her lips with its downy-furred head. Slowly, her hand came up to scratch behind its neck, creating an even louder purr to emanate from the small animal's chest.

Wally's grin beamed from where he leaned over the back of the couch. Her eyes flicked towards him before going back to the ball of orange fluff that was making biscuits on her chest.

"Wally, what is this?"

"It's a kitten!"

"I know it's a kitten, but what is it doing here?" She mumbled. The kitten settled, but Artemis sat up, disturbing it from its spot before helping it resettle in her lap. It still purred happily away.

"She's yours, Arty." Wally said. Artemis sent a scathing glare towards him.

"You can't just buy me a cat to make up for forgetting our anniversary, Wally! And it certainly isn't going to make up for the fact that you ran away from me, no less! God forbid you act like an adult in situations like this." Her voice softened to a defeated mumble as she raging came to an end.

Wally leaned down and ran a finger down the kitten's spine, inciting a new wave of happy purrs. Artemis was in awe over how such a small creature could make such a big racket. She'd never been allowed to have pets. It was always too much of a responsibility.

"I'm sorry I freaked out and ran like a scared 15 year old boy earlier. I shouldn't have just left you like that. And I'm not getting you a cat just because I forgot our anniversary, Artemis. I know how much you like cats, and I saw her and she needed a home. And she looks like me doesn't she?"

"Freakishly so." Artemis admitted half-heartedly.

"Y'know," Wally said, suddenly at her side and testing his luck by resting his head against the smooth skin of her arm, " With her looking so much like me, I technically won't break my promise again."

His words made her neck snap towards him.

"What?"

His eyes trailed a path up to meet her gaze.

"I didn't forget, Sweetheart. I'm sorry I broke my promise and left you by yourself." He said.

And suddenly all of her rage just melted out of her and her heart swelled.

"Get over here, you idiot." She mumbled, grabbing the collar of his uniform and pulling him towards her. She tasted the salt on his lips and coffee on his lips and felt a soft smile touch her own. They still had a great deal of work to do; marriage wasn't easy and they were both still learning. But Wally somehow made her feel like no matter how angry she might become, or how stupid he could act, they could make it out alive.

Wally pulled away from her, pushing her hair away from her face and leaning over to pet his little lifesaver. The kitten stumbled closer to them and climbed up on Artemis's shoulder, burying itself in her blonde hair.

"So what are we going to name her?"

Artemis let the question mull between them before reaching over and scratching the kitten behind her ear.

"Cotton." She said. Wally raised an eyebrow.

"Why Cotton?"

"That's the second anniversary. It used to be called the cotton anniversary. So she's going to be Cotton."

"The name wouldn't make more sense if she was white."

Her gray eyes darkened and narrowed into a glare. Wally hastily laughed.

"Cotton's perfect."

* * *

A/N: Okay, okay. Put down the pitchforks! I know I've been completely AWOL for the past couple of months, but I'd just like to let everyone know that I'm alive and well and currently working on a couple of new projects.

Okay, let it be known that I will ship Spitfire until the day I die. And since Young Justice: Invasion CONVENIENTLY decided to leave my babies out of the first two episodes and made me completely depressed, I took out the sadness in the form of a fluffy fic like this.

Love you All,

MadameSheep


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